Nuggets 114, Thunder 104

It’s real simple what happened here tonight. The Thunder got sucked into the Nuggets’ style, succumbed to it and suffered its first loss in 21 home games against Western Conference opponents. That was the story of the game, and it has to be a disappointing result for a team that should be past the point of playing its opponent’s style of play.

For a team that likes to talk about how it prides itself on defense, the Thunder sure didn’t play much of it tonight. Instead, when the high-octane Nuggets came to town and the Thunder looked awfully interested in turning the contest into a run-and-gun affair. That much was evident from early in the first quarter. OKC pushed the pace, apparently trying to out-quick Denver’s quick, and jacked shots early and often.

Some of the first quarter wasn’t so bad. But about halfway through the opening period, and for all of the second, the Thunder had embraced the track meet.

Kevin Durant: “It’s easy to fall into that trap. That’s what they do. They get up and down the court. Our game is a little different. We want to run, but we want to run off of our defense. Those guys run off makes, misses of course and turnovers. But they continually run. They pass the ball well and they score a lot in the paint. So we fell into the trap and we couldn’t play that game with them.”

The second thing that went wrong in this one was once the Nuggets wrestled away control of the game by playing its preferred style, the Thunder began to panic. Predictably, once OKC’s scorching first-half offense dried up the Nuggets pulled away. That’s when the Thunder’s offense bogged down and players started scrambling. It resulted in a pitiful third period offensively. OKC scored just 16 points on 6-for-20 shooting in that frame. The Nuggets pounced, building a 13-point lead.

“We got away from making the extra pass in the second half,” said Thabo Sefolosha, “and that was the difference between the first and second half.”

The sounds after the game were potentially troubling. It’s uncertain because you never know who’s being truthful and who’s simply supplying cliches to get on with their evening. But three different people I questioned ha three different responses to the same questions. Durant, in my opinion, hit the nail on the head about the style of play. Sefolosha, I thought, adequately summed up the second-half offense. But Thunder coach Scott Brooks didn’t express concern over either of the two. That very well could have been a product of Brooks simply protecting his team. But then Sefolosha sort of disagreed with Durant’s assessment about the pace. It led me to wonder if these guys are all on the same page and whether they have an understanding of who they really are and what it takes to get to where they want to go. Again, three-minute interviews aren’t the end all be all. There’s a number of reasons the message might not have been the same. But it certainly raised a red flag.

Brooks didn’t seem to mind the pace: “There’s no question that they’re a very fast team. They’re third in the league in scoring. We’re second in the league in scoring. We both play fast. We want to make it a defensive game, no question. We want to make sure that we are locking them up defensively and not letting them get into their zone. But they did a good job. They were attacking on makes and misses.”

Brooks also didn’t seem to mind the second-half offense: “We missed 3s. It’s one thing when you miss shots. It kind of can look like that…But I cannot complain too much about the offensive end of the floor. We always score enough points to win.”

The third quarter offense was terrible!

I’m not sure OKC ran a single set in the third quarter. The offense turned into chaos, with players taking it upon themselves to be the hero. A few frantic drive-and-kicks were about the best “designs” the Thunder could muster in that period.

Maybe those few drive-and-kicks that ended with a missed 3 are what Brooks is referring to when he said he can’t complain about the offense. Maybe in his mind that was good execution.

One last thing happened tonight that led to this result. It was a lack of balance. The Thunder had only three players score in double figures. The Nuggets had six. It will take a mighty scoring performance by Durant and Russell Westbrook to beat the Nuggets playing like that.

And get this, Kevin Martin was the third 10-plus-point scorer for the Thunder. He had 12 at halftime. He finished with 14. Something was wrong with the offense.

You telling me Reggie Jackson is a 12-minute player? Why does he have to nearly save the Thunder just to get 18 minutes?

Brooks apparently learned his lesson from the last game against Denver. Ronnie Brewer checked in in the final two minutes of the opening quarter. Looked like Brooks was finally warming up to using his defensive skills. We’ll see what happens there going forward.

The Nuggets scored 72 points in the paint.

Denver had 39 points in the second quarter.

With 2:54 remaining in the second quarter JaVale McGee missed a free throw, got his own rebound and got an immediate dunk. That. Cannot. Happen.

Jackson elbowed Serge Ibaka above his right eye while skying for a rebound. It resulted in a cut and subsequent bleeding from Ibaka’s brow. Stinks for Ibaka. That’s the opposite eye that was close to swollen shut from when he fell into Tim Duncan’s knee.

Very little else from this game mattered much. I could go into more observations, but blasting Derek Fisher isn’t going to change anything.

Up next. At Memphis on Wednesday.

-DM-

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The following comments are archived from the original publication of this post

Dang, that is some excellent reading something that isn't there. Of course they are great players. I never said they weren't. I said they weren't top 15 players of all time, which seems to be your criterion for great. My point is that neither of the two were ever considered the second best player in the league at any time in their career. It is your curious definition of great that we are discussing. Is there only one current player that you would consider great? In Durant's last three years, he has three three scoring championships, took that 2010 team to make a strong first round showing in the playoffs after winning 20-something games, took that 2011 team to the WCF while making a bunch of clutch shots, took last year's team to the Finals after another clutch showing in the playoffs, has 4 All-Star appearances with 3 starts, an ASG MVP, leader of that 2010 international team win, gold medalist where he was the second best player on the team, and was an MVP runner-up last year. Again, that just sounds great to me. Also, he is the unanimous second best player in the world. Arvydas Sabonis, in Russia, was definitely a great player. If his conditioning and health weren't mismanaged by an overly ambitious Russian gov, he would have been an NBA great.

jothunderjoon Mar 21, 2013 @ 5:44 am

Why are gary payton / scottie pippen NOT supposed to be considered great players? Because they are not WIDELY considered to be top 10-15 players of all time? you just brought up the TOP 10-15 players of all time as some desperate way to gain some ground in your losing argument which is based on "widely considered abd etc etc" If we are talking about "widely considered" You would be hard pressed to argue that gary payton/ scottie pippen are NOT widely considered to be all time greats.. Considering Both will be hall of famers within the next 5 five years.. Furthermore prove to me how either one of those guys is not a great player? Scottie Pippen : glue guy, lockdown defender, excellent 3 point shooter, ball handler, play maker, rebounder, AND could have averages 25+ on a team where he was first star easy? Plus the 6 titles , and being the ultimate sidekick to greatness.. Gary Payton : premiere lockdown defender, only pg to EVER win dpoy, could guard either 1/2 spot, held michael jordan to his worst nba finals showings, was also The premiere scoring pg of his time, while stuffing the stat sheet, best year was what? 24ppg 9 assts. 6 rebs? all while being the best defender on the floor at all times? Come on! how can a guy be the number 1 scoring option, primary ball handler, top 5 in assts in the league, 3 on his team in reb, and be the best defensive player on his team for 5-6 seasons, all while the team is making the playoffs, and not be considered a GREAT.. You look at those sonics teams after shawn kemp left, they were pretty weak, but gp still kept em winning.. barely missing a beat when VIn Baker stepped in.. you know who else was a GREAT player? Im sure you would stand to disagree, as popular opinion has not claimed it so.. Arvydas Sabonis.. One of the most, if not MOST complete Centers of all time.. If he had played out his entire career in the states I think theres a chance this would not be such a shock to you..

jothunderjoon Mar 21, 2013 @ 3:35 am

What is considered and what IS are two different things. Did you watch the game yesterday? As guy pointed out numbers lie.. Durant was extremely ineffective. Just because he filled the stat line does not mean he had a great game.. Nikola vucevic put up what? 27 pts 28reb in a game this year? Does that make him an all nba center? Or even a top 5 big man ? NO he did have a great game but he also had it against the heat who have zero Paint presence, and while playing for the magic, who also have zero paint presence.. Point being , When theres no other big guys on the court, somebody has to grab the rebounds.. Vucevic is also averaging a double double this year.. If he was playing on a team w atleast 1 other paint player that most likely would not be so.. And I like vucevic I think he will be a very good player, but his stats dont reflect where he is at right now talent wise.. How about tonights game? Kd had 32pts.. did he have a great game or a bad game? points are good? he got some rebs , some assists.. also 4 to.. I watched the game, I say Awful game.. bad shot selection.. wb also had an awful game.. scott brooks also Awful.. Offense is kickin, plenty of motion in the small ball , then he brings in perk and wverything stops.. I was NEVER talking about top 10-15 players.. I believe there is WAY more than 10-15 players that can be considered GREAT.. youre talking about commercial notions, and just because somebody considers keVin Durant the second best player in the nba , i should go along w it and think hes top 10 all time or whatever.. hes not even close to top 10.. and the thunder are my favorite team.. just because individual talent is at a low right now does not mean the second best player is An untouchable legend.. Where would durant be considered as far as TOP talent in nba right now if the last 3 seasons he averaged 26.5 instead of 28-29pts and did not lead the league in scoring? Think about that sir.. Ask yourself that question.. Durant holds his place in The second place behind lebron for 3 reasons.. he DID score 29 not 26 the last 3 years he is marketable the thunder are good NOW as I said in my first post I think he did take major leaps this year to become a great player.. But since the all star he has definately not looked/played like one.. All that age stuff makes ZERO difference to this argument, we are talking about where he is NOW TODAY YESTERDAY... Tommorow we can talk about next year..

Glendaon Mar 20, 2013 @ 10:42 pm

Early in the seanson many raved on the seamless fitting of Martin off the bench as the Thunder new sixth man. I was one of the many. I haven't yet graphed a line tracking Martin's statistics, but my eyes tell me that Martin's play has steadily declined in the last 30 or so games. Martin looked comfortable and natural earlier. He looks neither anymore. This is merely one example diminishing the Thunder, among many other examples. The primary examples point at "lack of development," or in some cases, "backward devolopment." I've supported coach Brooks on many occassions, but I've often wondered whether Brooks has the stuff to pull the Thunder all the way to the top. I'm leaning to: NO. I'm beginning to think that a few years ago lucky Brooks landed in a treasure of youthful high talent.

Dragonon Mar 20, 2013 @ 9:03 pm

My mind has never been as boggled as it was watching last nights game.On defense especially,it looked like we had never played the Nuggets before.Their defense needed to figure out what one or two guys on our team was doing and stop it.Our defense needed to figure out what their TEAM was trying to do,but just before we did,they made a layup.I've never put a whole lot of stock breaking down rebounding numbers because sometimes a team has fewer rebounds because they made more of their shots and sometimes it looks like some nights the ball seems to bounce more to one team than the other.It's rare that a team gets more rebounds because they "wanted"it more.But last night Kenneth Farid WANTED it more. I also don't swear by defensive FG% because sometimes guys(like Dirk the year before last)have about an inch and a half clearance to get the ball off and they still make every shot they take andI don't see how you could attribute that to bad defense when some times guys miss alot of shots and their not being defended tightly at all.Last night the closer it came to the end of the game,nobody on our team could make a shot no matter how good or bad the defense was. Then it was like we decided shooting free throws was our best chance of scoring. The only good thing about the game was that the people that blast Coach Brooks when we win could blast him in CAPITAL LETTERS.

Glendaon Mar 20, 2013 @ 8:10 pm

When a team playing the Heat leaps to a significant lead, before too long the Heat return to their practically unbeatable fundamental play on both ends of the court. The Heat trust their play to be superior above all other opponents' best play. The Heat's trust leads to imposing their will, and no team in the NBA can withstand. So far as the Heat are concerned, a winning game hardly has anything to with another team's play. Rather the Heat eventually and regularly establishes their play and establishes their superiority. When a rally is needed or when a game comes down to the wire, the Heat are immune to falling into a trap of another team's play. Something to remember: The pressure of good teams clashing in a vital matchup and the pressure of a tight game in the match up usually results in the appearance of teams' most established habits whether good or bad.

redriverndnon Mar 20, 2013 @ 7:13 pm

A lot of Thunder situations are like beating a dead horse these days.... Nothing being said or wrote will change anything anytime soon....The lack of chemistry among the starters is something that should've been taken care of long ago.... Perk is absolutely pitiful, how many times in th last few games have we seen Russ make a GREAT pass after drawing away defenders but Perk can't finish ???? SERGE, once my favorite Thunder player, is now something different than what he once was.... His inability to be a consistent rebounding & scoring threat is a disappointment.... Must be his new circle of friends in the fashion world, "your pretty Serge, you don't need to be powerful, use finesse...." Thabo is better.... KD & Russ are what they are, superbly gifted athletes that only know how to play the way they play, it's not what they were taught, it's what they do.... Can you imagine if someone had/could/would teach them skills & teamwork ???? There is a difference between "telling" somebody what to do & "teaching" them what to do....

Big Don Mar 20, 2013 @ 6:32 pm

OKC offense=a supremely talented team with 2 guys that nobody can guard.Lots of isolations and winging it.Glorified streetball. Denver offense=a cohesive unit of players with various skills.Intelligent ball movement and player movement that almost always finds an open shooter,cutter or mismatch.Relentless end to end pace-pushing,exploiting fatigue and/or brief lapses in judgement by the other team. We both score a lot.But the way we do it is very different.If you watched that game,you noticed that. To knock the rotation situation is to beat a dead horse,but its still very bad.

Redon Mar 20, 2013 @ 5:49 pm

I thought I would never say this but-RW is playing better ball than KD. Heard a sport commentor say ...that he does not think that KD is happy. He did not know why but thought it came thru in his recent funk that everyone is using. Guess I am nuts but I think his mom needs to come home from D.C. and get back to the games. I know you think I am crazy but something needs to happen

Big Don Mar 20, 2013 @ 4:10 pm

Idk about all that other stuff,but KD did have a bad game.Hes had a stetch of them in fact.Numbers lie.When he's getting the ball taken from him,passing when he should shoot,coming in the lane out of control and trying to draw fouls etc.There were a lot of wasted offensive possessions on his part.His defense has also been quietly very bad..Im not saying he sent the great player that he is,but he hasn't looked like himself lately.Russell has carried this team in a lot of ways and I think he deserves a lot of credit for the post all star record. Here's a observation:Russell consistently cheats off his man on defense nd kind of lurks around looking for steal opportunities.Now,he does get a lot of steals but when he doesn't,it can lead to easy baskets for the other team.KD looks basically disinterested on D.He Hs.f heatedly contests shots.Gets taken off the dribble etc.Thabo does well.Perk too.Serge is mostly good.Second unit,Reggie Jackson has picked up some of Russ habits(he did have a crucial block yesterday),Fish can't guard anybody,K-Mart almost can't guard anybody,Nick does a decent job(although he's usually at a disadvantage)....Now,if coach climbs this team has a defensive identity,why are the stars allowed to play lackadaisical D?My theory is they are just flat out playing too much and in order to keep their legs for the offensive end,they take some defensive possessions off.Why can't maybe DeAndre Liggins and Ronnie Brewer get off the bench on a "defensive team"?Why can't Hasheem?Im gonna go ahead and say that our defense as a unit is terrible.Coach knows it,and little is done to correct it.We have the potential.

redriverndnon Mar 20, 2013 @ 3:50 pm

Cool thing about it all is that with 18 games left, there are 9 very winnable games & with some extra effort, 1 or 2 good wins could happen & the THUNDER will WIN more than 60 games this regular season.... As we all know, every time a teams wins 60 games in a season the teams that do it are automatically enshrined into the Hall of Fame & are remembered for all eternity.... So, this is a team that will be defined as one of the GREATEST OF ALL TIME !!!! Foreman Scotty will be proud & effusive as he states to the press tha not many teams have ever been this good & OKC should feel honored.... By the way, any "coach" who can guide his team to 60 wins, deserves a raise & contract extension.... :)

[...] Darnell Mayberry: “The sounds after the game were potentially troubling. It’s uncertain because you never know who’s being truthful and who’s simply supplying cliches to get on with their evening. But three different people I questioned ha three different responses to the same questions. Durant, in my opinion, hit the nail on the head about the style of play. Sefolosha, I thought, adequately summed up the second-half offense. But Thunder coach Scott Brooks didn’t express concern over either of the two. That very well could have been a product of Brooks simply protecting his team. But then Sefolosha sort of disagreed with Durant’s assessment about the pace. It led me to wonder if these guys are all on the same page and whether they have an understanding of who they really are and what it takes to get to where they want to go. Again, three-minute interviews aren’t the end all be all. There’s a number of reasons the message might not have been the same. But it certainly raised a red flag.” [...]

Nickon Mar 20, 2013 @ 2:58 pm

I'm not sure you can consider Durant's game last night bad, let alone awful. Maybe you are trying to say that it was awful for him. In that case, I might be able to see your point, but the numbers still look pretty good except for the TOs. The guy was 10-23 for 34, with 7 REB and 5 AST. He was cold from deep, but that happens. If he hits any of those, you know like he normally does, his numbers would be even better. Like I said yesterday, I think I need to know your definition of awful, because 34-7-5, even with 6 TOs is still decent.

Nickon Mar 20, 2013 @ 2:45 pm

Jo, I see what you are trying to say, but you're just wrong. He's not the best defender in the league, but he is good due to his height and length. He isn't the best ball handler in the league, but he seems to be able to get to the rim using that handle and he's improving. The guy is the unanimous second best player in the NBA for the last 2 years. The unanimous second best player in the world. If your definition of great player is top 10 player of all-time, then the guy is already talked about as being a part of that group someday. Plus, what are Scottie Pippen and Gary Payton doing on your list if we're only talking about the 10 or 15 greatest players of all time? Plus, Bill Russell had a major flaw in his game. It is called offense. He was just so good at everything else and more athletic than most of the guys he was playing against at the time. Did I mention that the guy is only 24 years old? No, he can't measure up to the all-time greats yet, just for the fact that he's only 24. Go look at the numbers for the other guys on your list when they were 24. Please explain to me how the unanimous second best player in the world isn't considered great.

Harryon Mar 20, 2013 @ 2:04 pm

My guess is, Brooks is not a paint man in his life, maybe a small ball player! That's what he only preaches, plus the 2 man offense and no defense. Brooks should not be bothered with the teams like, the Spurs, Clippers, Grizzlies, Lakers, but all have big men to protect the paint, but the Heat has no big playing center either. Maybe that's his strategy, copying the Heat, but the Thunder does not have a player like LeBron and Wade, now that's a problem!

Samon Mar 20, 2013 @ 1:55 pm

SAME TEAM, SAME RESULT=LOST. WHY CAN'T BROOKS DO SOMETHING DIFFERENT FOR A CHANGE? MAYBE RESHUFFLE HIS LINE UP OR PLAY SOMEBODY LIKE LAMB OR PERRY JONES ON THOSE GAMES TO CONFUSE THE OTHER TEAM. THE OTHER COACHES IN THE NBA KNOWS BROOKS 2 MAN OFFENSE AND ITS PATHETIC! •Yes, Denver is a legitimate contender in the West. “We’ve got to figure out how to play with that group,” Collison said. •When informed the Thunder bench was outscored 71-11, a stunned Kevin Durant looked up from his chair and said: “Say what? Sheesh.” KD was genuinely shocked. I GUESS BROOKS HAS NOT LEARN ANYTHING FROM PAST GAMES WITH OTHER TEAMS! •OKC’s transition defense was horrid in the first half as the Nuggets scored 40 points in the paint and had 13 points off nine Thunder turnovers. “We didn’t play well at all,” Collison said. “Offensively, we weren’t getting good shots and it was almost like turnovers leading out to breaks. They were just flying down(court). We couldn’t get our defense set.” •Collison explained why it’s important how a team runs: “We want to run, too, but we want to do it off of causing turnovers. We want the pace to be good that way (Collison pointed forward) and back this way (pointing backward) we want to get everybody back. We want to be a defensive team. That’s what we want to start with. Yes, we want to play fast, get the ball and run because we’re talented and athletic and we’re good at that, but we can’t be a team that trades baskets. That’s not going to good enough.” •Nuggets reserve guard Corey Brewer scored 26 against the Thunder on Jan. 20, which was a season-high for him at the time. Reserve forward Wilson Chandler tied a career-high with 35 points on Friday night. “Well, we owe this one to Wilson Chandler,” Denver coach George Karl said afterward. “He was great.” Different game different player who steps up for George Karl's team. Why is George a better coach than Brooks? Don't bother with what George said about Brooks, he was just playing with him. From John Rohde's column March 2

TDon Mar 20, 2013 @ 1:44 pm

Fisher should Reggie's back-up and not see minutes absent injury. Based on approx. one month's stats--Oklahoma City’s defensive rating drops from 97.5 when Fisher is off the court to 106.9 when Fisher is on the court. That is ridiculous. There were other issues last night. KD still appears to be in his funk. OKC offense in 3rd was horrendous. Ibaka had an off night--and now may have two black eyes. In warm-ups, Fish hit about 48/50 3-pointers from various spots on the floor. That was fun to watch--but it is painful to watch him in a game--very painful.

redriverndnon Mar 20, 2013 @ 1:31 pm

No small ball, no isolation ???? Are you ka-ray-Z ???? What would the sideline honcho have left to teach his dynamic duo of young superstar talent ???? Good thing is that the THUNDER have "secret" playoff plays that they haven't unleashed yet & the "team" we haven't seen yet is still yet to be unveiled.... The Nuggies proved that you don't have to play small players in order to RUN.... Kousta Koufous took an overhead outlet pass & layed it in.... I wonder who he outran ???? TONIGHT TONIGHT TONIGHT !!!! Now come the Grizzle, in Memphis.... No big deal, this still JUST MARCH, still room for improvement.... Didn't someone say that last night ????

Kevinon Mar 20, 2013 @ 1:12 pm

•“We got away from making the extra pass in the second half,” said Thabo Sefolosha, “and that was the difference between the first and second half.” ’m not sure OKC ran a single set in the third quarter. The offense turned into chaos, with players taking it upon themselves to be the hero. A few frantic drive-and-kicks were about the best “designs” the Thunder could muster in that period. •One last thing happened tonight that led to this result. It was a lack of balance. The Thunder had only three players score in double figures. The Nuggets had six. It will take a mighty scoring performance by Durant and Russell Westbrook to beat the Nuggets playing like that. •And get this, Kevin Martin was the third 10-plus-point scorer for the Thunder. He had 12 at halftime. He finished with 14. Something was wrong with the offense. •You telling me Reggie Jackson is a 12-minute player? Why does he have to nearly save the Thunder just to get 18 minutes? •With 2:54 remaining in the second quarter JaVale McGee missed a free throw, got his own rebound and got an immediate dunk. That. Cannot. Happen. Things to take into consideration by Brooks as a coach from DM.

jothunderjoon Mar 20, 2013 @ 1:05 pm

Great player= Bill russell, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Michael Jordan, Scottie pippen, Charles Barkley, Gary Payton, Hakeem Olajuwan, Lebron James, Oscar Robertson, Kevin durant beggining of this year to all star break,russell westbrook since all star break Great Scorer = Reggie Miller, Glen Rice, George Gervin, Allen iverson, Monta Ellis, Carmelo Anthony, Peja Stojakovic , Chris Mullin, Kevin Durant last rookie year to last year, russell westbrook until beggining of this year Obviously both lists can have plenty of additions.. Kevin durant AWFUL = loss against nuggets, Loss against heat on valentines day ( i was there, and yes he scored 40+ but his shot selection/turnovers/efficiency was Awful, most of the points came second half) and first half of the mavericks game, those are just off the top of my head. My definition of a graat player is one without MaJOr flaws to his overall game.. Until last year durant was a liability ball handling, shot selection, defense to an extent.. A great Player must impact the entire game in a positive fashion, and not be a glaring detriment.. Somebody has to score the ball, and it is important.. And yes he took us to the finals and western conference finals etc. But he did NOT do that on his own by any means.. thanks for being open to my response

TKon Mar 20, 2013 @ 12:25 pm

Scott Brooks never should have been resigned last summer. Any coach who can't see how useless Fisher is out there, especially against a team that pushes it in transition the way Denver does, is beyond help.

Thunder Realiston Mar 20, 2013 @ 12:03 pm

I know that the offense struggled in the third quarter - it seems to do that in many games. And it did not recover well in the fourth. That aside, the team still scored over 100 points. The heart of OKC's problems since January has been that they do not play defense. In occasional games the effort has been there, but not very many. I know that many will be screaming about Hardin when we get knocked out of the second round of the playoffs but it is not his offense we will be missing. The key to this team's success is to find that will and desire to play "D" and do it consistantly -

Nickon Mar 20, 2013 @ 11:54 am

Bad loss. There is no other way to put it. The team seems lethargic and out of it. Hopefully they are just getting themselves ready for the playoffs, but I don't know if I am completely buying that. Maybe Denver just is that hot. I don't know if I am completely buying that either. 1. Defense was awful and the main reason for the loss. 2. Durant has to get out of this funk he is in. 3. Kevin Martin has to be a bigger part of the offense. Although, last night he just went cold in the second half. 4. Serge Ibaka looked awful last night on both ends of the floor. Maybe Faried is just that good. 5. Fisher has to go. Don't his kids miss him? 6. I loved what I saw from Jackson. Hopefully, that will open up Martin in that second unit.

Okcjimon Mar 20, 2013 @ 10:24 am

Fisher was solely responsible for giving up 12 easy points either on turnovers leading to baskets or getting blown by for layups. And how many did the Thunder lose by? And how many did he score? It actually can be that simple.

Matthewon Mar 20, 2013 @ 9:39 am

Great write up Darnell. Especially appreciated the contrast between Coach Brooks apparent satisfaction with offense: "I cannot complain too much about the offensive end of the floor. We always score enough points to win.” And your spot on analysis: "The third quarter offense was terrible! I’m not sure OKC ran a single set in the third quarter." Game slipped away start of 2nd quarter with the small ball lineup, but you are right, there is no use bashing Derek. Coach is gonna play small ball with or without Fish, but his mancrush on Dereck is a bit ridiculous. Say no to small ball!!! Say no to ISO!!!

[...] The Nuggets trailed by one at halftime but took control in the third quarter. Denver became …Nuggets 114, Thunder 104NewsOK.com (blog)Three-Pointers: Nuggets beat Thunder, schedule to claim 13th straight winSI.com [...]

Seanon Mar 20, 2013 @ 5:03 am

Jesus Christ can you people here stop reposting articles and think for yourselves? You don't have to be a sports writer to realize Brooks is bringing nothing to the table, we're struggling, and he especially isn't panicking.

G.M.on Mar 20, 2013 @ 4:41 am

Blasting Derek Fisher may not change anything, but after seeing him jack up rushed shot after rushed shot (not to mention a couple of turnovers) he kinda deserves it. And it'll make the readers smile. Personally I think a Jackson/Liggins backcourt would have been much more effective against the Nuggets. Derek had no business being out there.

Tomon Mar 20, 2013 @ 4:41 am

With 23 consecutive victories, LeBron James and the Miami Heat remain atop the weekly Yahoo! Sports NBA rankings for the third straight week. Miami has the second-longest winning streak in NBA history and is chasing the record of 33 consecutive wins by the 1971-72 Los Angeles Lakers. The Heat play their next four games against some of the NBA’s worst teams – Cleveland, Detroit, Charlotte and Orlando – before facing the Chicago Bulls, possibly with Derrick Rose, on March 27. Miami now has more wins and a better winning percentage than the San Antonio Spurs. Records are through Monday. Miami1. Miami Heat (52-14, previous ranking: first): LeBron James returns to his old stomping grounds Wednesday when the Heat face the Cavaliers in search of their 24th straight win. Struggling Cleveland has lost three straight. San Antonio2. San Antonio Spurs (51-16, previous ranking: second): Injured guard Tony Parker (elbow) is expected to return to action this weekend. If Miami continues to win, the Spurs could have a chance to end the Heat’s streak at 29 games in San Antonio on March 31. Oklahoma City3. Oklahoma City Thunder (50-17, previous ranking: third): The Thunder have a challenging back-to-back ahead, hosting streaking Denver on Tuesday and visiting Memphis on Wednesday. The Thunder appear set for one of the West’s top two seeds. Denver4. Denver Nuggets (46-22, previous ranking: sixth): With Miami stealing their thunder, the Nuggets have actually won 12 straight games after a controversial overtime road win Monday against the Chicago Bulls. A big game against the Thunder looms Tuesday night. Los Angeles5. Los Angeles Clippers (46-21, previous ranking: fifth): The Clippers play just six of their final 15 games against teams with winning records and three of those are at home. All-Star Chris Paul faces off against Brooklyn’s Deron Williams on Saturday in Los Angeles. Memphis6. Memphis Grizzlies (45-21, previous ranking: fourth): The Grizzlies will be at home resting while the Thunder face the Nuggets on Tuesday before flying to Memphis. The Grizzlies play nine of their final 17 games against teams with winning records. Marc J. Spears Yahoo! Expert

Troyon Mar 20, 2013 @ 4:38 am

“That’s a great asset to have,” Thunder coach Scott Brooks said. “That’s one of the strengths of their team (Nuggets). They’re deep, they have a lot of good players that play, a lot of skill players.” Oklahoma City has put up 112.0 per game in taking four of five from Denver at home, including a 117-97 victory Jan. 16. The Nuggets, though, have won the last two meetings, both on their own court. After beating the Thunder 121-118 in overtime Jan. 20, Denver pulled out a 105-103 win March 1 thanks to Ty Lawson’s jumper with 0.2 seconds left. Chandler shot 6 of 7 from 3-point range and finished with 35 points that night as the Nuggets’ reserves outscored Oklahoma City’s bench 71-11. “Everybody has to step up,” Brooks told the team’s official website. “Everybody has a role and they have to believe in that role and make the best of that role and embrace it. And they did that tonight. We had guys step up, whether it was setting the screen, going for a loose ball or getting the rebound for an extra possession.” The Thunder will surely be looking to come out with a better defensive effort against Chandler this time around. The Nuggets are 11-1 when he scores at least 12 points. “Anytime when we bring (Chandler) off the bench we seem to get an offensive spurt,” Karl said. “I think he is our most efficient offensive person on the team.” By NOEY KUPCHAN (STATS Writer) | The Associated Press

Keithon Mar 20, 2013 @ 4:36 am

Brooks has never shown the ability to be a good X’s and O’s coach, and that isn’t a good thing. The talent the Thunder possesses can only take OKC so far and when you’re not definitively the best team in the league trying to defeat others who want to claim that title, you need a coach that can coach your talent past the other great teams rather than hope your talent wins out on its own. This season, despite yet even more improvement over last season’s NBA Finals team, the Thunder has shown a strange and concerning reliance on hero ball in crunch time. Unfortunately, the Thunder’s issues in crunch time are not a problem unique to this season. They’ve been around for the past couple of years, although the play of James Harden late in games last season appeared to solve that problem. This year, it’s back and it’s worse than ever. The main problem is that not only are there no late-game plays being run, there’s nothing that would even remotely resemble a play. The Oklahoman’s Berry Tramel broke down the fourth quarter of OKC’s March 1 game against Denver and discovered in the last eight minutes of the game, the Thunder had 17 offensive possessions. In those 17 possessions, OKC passed the ball six times. For a team of some of the best basketball players on the planet, including the second-best, that’s inexcusable. While it’s the players that execute on the court, it’s the coach who has to actually give them something to execute. That clearly hasn’t happened. The other troubling thing is Brooks’ stubborn refusal to match up with opponents based on small or big lineups. The obvious example is the Miami Heat, but against Denver, Brooks refused to do it once again. With 9:56 left in the third quarter, Denver subbed in Corey Brewer and Wilson Chandler, leaving Kosta Koufas as the only big man on the floor. Brooks stuck with his normal lineup and rotations and didn’t end up with a small lineup that matched Denver’s until there was 9:44 left in the game. By that point, the Thunder was down 11. However, right after that, OKC went on a 21-7 run to take a three-point lead with just under three minutes to play. The fact is, Oklahoma City’s bigs, while talented, are not good enough to make teams pay for running out a small lineup. The same night OKC was in Denver, Memphis was able to force LeBron James to guard Zach Randolph and the results for the Heat were not good. That’s something Oklahoma City is unable to do, so when teams like Miami go with a small lineup, OKC has to match up. To this point, Brooks has refused to do that, and it’s safe to say it has cost OKC some games. Ultimately, Oklahoma City doesn’t need to settle for good when it could have great. Whether or not that means Scott Brooks is the thing that needs to change remains to be seen, but to not ask the question? That’s just foolishness. By Luke McConnell, News9.com -March 12, 2013

t.on Mar 20, 2013 @ 4:31 am

I'm really tired of these bs answers/line ups from Scott Brooks. Its maddening.

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